Upanishads · Mahā 4.131
॥
Devanāgarī
अहो नु चित्रं यत्सत्यं ब्रह्म तद्विस्मृतं नृणाम् तिष्ठतस्तव कार्येषु मास्तु रागानुरञ्जना
Transliteration (IAST)
aho nu citraṃ yatsatyaṃ brahma tadvismṛtaṃ nṛṇām tiṣṭhatastava kāryeṣu māstu rāgānurañjanā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अहो नु चित्रम् यत् सत्यम्aho nu citram yat satyamoh, what a wonder: that the true; ah, here is a marvel: that the real
ब्रह्म तत् विस्मृतम् नृणाम्brahma tat vismṛtam nṛṇāmBrahman is forgotten by men; Brahman is by men consigned to oblivion
तिष्ठतः तव कार्येषुtiṣṭhataḥ tava kāryeṣufor thee, abiding in thy works; for thee, engaged in thy affairs
मा अस्तु राग-अनुरञ्जनाmā astu rāga-anurañjanālet there be no tinting by passion; may there be no colouring by fondness
Translation
“Oh, what a wonder: the true Brahman is forgotten by men! May there be, then, no tinting by passion for thee, engaged in thy works.”
Version
bcdde535cfc7 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The exclamation aho nu citram — “oh, what a wonder!” — opens the chapter's three last verses, and each has its own amazement.
The first wonder: men have forgotten Brahman.
They forgot not something rare and hidden, but that which is everything and everywhere (4.118). To forget such a thing is harder than to remember — and yet they forgot.
The second half is Ṛbhu's last instruction, and it is short: mā astu rāga-anurañjanā.
The word anurañjanā means “colouring, tinting”, from the root “to dye”. Rāga, “passion”, is of the same root: literally “dye, colour”.
The image is exact. Passion adds nothing material to a deed; it tints it — and hence one deed seems desirable and another repugnant.
Note the proviso tiṣṭhataḥ tava kāryeṣu — “for thee, engaged in thy works”. The works remain. What is forbidden is not the work but its colouring.